Sony X-series OLED Walkman priced, hitting UK tomorrow
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 12th 2009 7:59AM
posted May 12th 2009 7:59AM
posted May 12th 2009 7:59AM
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Don't worry, we are resigned to living in "Rip-off Britain".
um...woohoo I guess. It has taken Sony this long to actually deliver a somewhat desirable media player and they are a music and electronics company.
facepalm
What are you, against good audio fidelity/Sony's great sound quality? I love my iPod but sorely miss the audio quality I enjoyed with MiniDisc.
Also, these prices are just a hair under what Apple charges for the iPod in England (214/283) so I'd expect the US prices to similarly be a few dollars less putting the 32GB at the "Hell yes I'm buying" point of ~$395.
God, I've missed Sony's sound but the thought of dealing with Sonic stage crap was more than enough to keep me away all these years...
No, I just think it is sad that it has taken them this long to make an appealing media player considering in the past they were usually the first and the best, but they missed the mark when it came to portable media players. I still have a Sony Walkman tape player and a Sony Walkman CD player, but none of their MP3 players looked good until now 10 years after the MP3 explosion.
prateeko, dammit! You reminded me, where the crap did I put my minidisc?
You know, I miss that ritual of changing media especially cassette and minidisc. That sensation and sound of plastic hitting plastic. Ahh, mixtapes....
I feel like an old fart now.
I like the abbility to play loseless audio (Flac) and superb audio quality of the player, but there is no point for me to carry _another_ gadget with me _just_ to play music when whenever I am in car there is my receiver, in laptop foobar and at home exposure+dynaudios+htpc combo. More to it it isn't in any portable format like others "nano" players that I am used to when running in my beatiful London park screaming at me that I am faster this time (Nike sensor).
So why buy it?
but there is one brick on a market that also plays loseless music, moreover it has digital audio output (not analog like sony) that allows you to connect portable headphone amp for high fidelity (try ray samuels audio) and knows many other words like "GPS" or 20 thousands of appz...and I've heard you can even make a phone calls with it!
for the guy like me it would be a better bet to carry, never owned one though as they say new version is comming and I am strict Microsoft guy (but give praise where the praise is).
Did you just forget the crap called iTunes? Anyways...all new Sony's Walkmans have drag and drop capability, so you do not have to worry about installing Sonic Stage or any other crap.
"God, I've missed Sony's sound but the thought of dealing with Sonic stage crap was more than enough to keep me away all these years..."
All NWZ models had drag & drop abilities for the past couple of generations, starting with the A818 to the new S639.
@Tarnation
"but none of [Sony's] MP3 players looked good until now 10 years after the MP3 explosion"
The MP3 "explosion" has been around well over 10 years. 15 at least. Contrary to popular belief, Apple did not invent digital music, the mp3 format, or the PMP.
@sweet greggo: We (most people) know that apple didn't create the first pmp, but one of, if not the first MP3 PMP is almost exactly 10 years old. And the format .mp3 was not yet out at the 15 year mark, though the technology existed.
References: http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1999/9902100013.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3
@Aaron
I know (most people) understand Apple didn't invent the PMP. Unfortunately is seems engadget is teeming with not (most people). It's always nice to set the record straight for those who have drank the koolaid and turn a blind eye to history.
For the record I stated the mp3 "revolution" was 15 years old. I wasn't sure of when the first mp3 player was on the market, though I knew it was in the late 90s. In rereading my comment I can see where I lumped it in with the 15 year timeline, and that's incorrect.
From your Wiki article: "With the first real-time software MP3 player Winplay3 (released September 9, 1995) many people were able to encode and play back MP3 files on their PCs."
The encoding software was released from MPEG in mid '94.
The first MP3 player was released in mid '98 (using flash memory), and COMPAQ developed the first mp3 player with an internal hard drive (also in '98, a good 3 years before the iPod was released).
Hell, Apple didn't even invent the iPod. Learn something new everyday.
@sweet greggo
I am glad you were set straight. I was referring to the first MP3 players and a little piece of software called Napster. I had a few friends back in the 90s that had MP3 CD players, but they were expensive and most of the people I knew just duplicated and traded CDs it was easier. Yes, MP3s have been around for 15 years, but they didn't gain universal popularity until about 10 years ago.
For the record I am not nor will I ever be an Apple fan boy. I have never owned and Apple product. My first MP3 player was an RCA k@zoo I think is what it was called had 32MBs of storage and an MMC expansion slot up to 64MBs I think. I was also one of the first of my friends to own an MP3 player and this wasn't until 2001 or so.
209 GBP ~ 308 USD (approx) for 16gb model
279 GBP ~ 425 USD (approx) for 32gb model
Oddly enough the pricing at release is the same as when I bought my S9 at release. Would be a first that the US gets screwed over with pricing over the EU i guess.
When you convert it directly, yes, but there's usually a big mark up on prices when electronics are sold in the UK.
Bear in mind that the Sony XEL-1 TV was £3,489 in the UK and about $1,748 in the US at launch. Sure, that's an extreme example, but you'll probably still end up getting these in the US a lot cheaper than those direct-convert costs.
Close.
The 16GB model is 299.99 Model number is NWZX1051FB
The 32GB model is 399.99 Model number is NWZX1061FB
and unfortunately they are on track for a US date of 07/26/2009 :(
At least markup isn't as bad as when the pound was $2. There's good news in there somewhere...
That reply was supposed to be to Avinash, not sure what the Failgadget comment system is up to...
My guess is that, for many multinationals, the UK's markup funds the boardroom chocolate biscuits at their head offices in US/Japan/Taiwan.
WTF, that was for Avinash. God this site's comment system sucks.
Any word yet on what Sony will do to cripple the device and make it utterly useless to any potential customers? I mean it is a Sony mp3 player.
Sony's entire media player range has used common-or-garden formats and connected as a mass storage device for about half a decade now.
I bought one about quarter a decade ago
@VitaminCM: Don't worry, it's already crippled with no gapless playback of lossy format ad only 320x240 video support (higher res is only for WMV).
Those prices are letting us down.
I think they are expected, probably going to be the same as the iPod touch. Sony is not known for undercutting competition.
Don't forget that the UK price includes tax (VAT at 15% at the moment)
Good (and painful) point. And here I was bitching about having sales tax (friend from Oregon said they have none)...
£249 at Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-Walkman-NWZX1060B-X-32GB/dp/B001RTS5UK?&camp=2486&linkCode=wey&tag=joncswebl-21&creative=8882
Compared to £267.80 for the 32GB iPod Touch at Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Apple-iPod-Touch-32GB-Generation/dp/B001FB5FTE/
Good to see that Sony is being competitive.
That Xseries price is likely to go down as time goes on, and Sony do a lot of promotions (free bluetooth headphones, free double capacity, etc. over the past year). While the iPod Touch might get a capacity bump, it's not going to get any cheaper. Sony's in this for the long tail of bargain bin purchases as much as the early adopter prestige.
That Xseries price is likely to go down as time goes on, and Sony do a lot of promotions (free bluetooth headphones, free double capacity, etc. over the past year). While the iPod Touch might get a capacity bump, it's not going to get any cheaper. Sony's in this for the long tail of bargain bin purchases as much as the early adopter prestige.
stick a 3G phone in that package and i'll take it!
Well considering apple.co.uk lists their 16 and 32gb for £214 and £283 pounds respectively this still seems competitive. You may not get apps (like I care) but the sound quality, noise cancelling, battery life and OLED screen make up for it
Smart money is on $299/$399 for 16/32gb models in the USA. In a few months that number will come down somewhat, though.
Still not a great deal simply because it has OLED and a semi-decent-at-best noise cancellation.
That isn't tooooo bad.
But I still don't think there is that many good reasons to carry this /and/ a reasonably high end phone.
Just hoping these arrive soon stateside.
UK Markup? Nix.
In the San Francisco Sony shop the only American sales assistant I have ever seen run, ran AWAY from me when I asked if I could buy a Vaio and export it to the UK.
It's good old US greed, and if you think the US rip off is bad in the UK you want to see it in the rest of Europe.
That's why Adobe have been taken to the EU competition commisioner - for forbidding European download cusomers from buying in the US and then demanding a rip off mark up. Greed.
It's called the US tax on the rest of the world.
Now ask why the WTO don't take an interest and I shall fall apart laughing.
Ummmm...first off Sony is a Japanese company. Secondly, if you bought a laptop in the US, you'd still have to pay VAT on it wouldn't you? I'd have to think that the US price + VAT = UK price or thereabouts.
I don't think it's greed- you're more than welcome to bring one home, I'm sure. I know someone who bought something like a wireless card in the US. The Sony rep probably ran away because he has no idea - not surprising considering where you went. However, whether or not you could get support is another story.
the 32gb sony is £33 cheaper than the 32gb ipod touch. so i might buy the walkman.
@Tarnation
Are you forgeting about the PSP or the their Walkmans? i believe they got good devices, they were just missing this one....
@Superhands
I agree 100%!
Get the iPod touch, It is a better deal and way more refined unlike this Sony piece of crap.
I know this because I have an iPod touch and I love it.
How do I add some pictures from one computer with iTunes without deleting the pictures already on the iPod that were from another computer? Can I do that with the "refined" iPod and iTunes? Can I do this very basic thing without shelling out more money? Can I accomplish that without duplicating my pictures on both computers???
Gee, you have an iPod?
I'm shocked.
You know you're a PSP Fanboy when you realize the TV, Music, Video, RSS, Browser, and Settings icons are from the PSP.
All I know is, I own a Sony S616F 4GB and I love the thing to death. Absolutely amazing sound quality, great OLED screen and reliable as hell. It is drag and drop, even though it has a proprietary connection, but so does Apple. I still really want this thing, and if I made a bit of money, I would probably buy this thing in a heart beat. Not having to deal with iTunes and only have to use drag-and-drop is a godsend.
@ Onetheycallgsk
Correction, there's not a tv icon on the PSP, is actually Video, i know that because i have one you know